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May's Blog
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Marking Jewish Time
We are in that period of the year when we count the omer, a unit of measure. When the Temple stood in Jerusalem an omer of barley was brought to the Temple as an offering. Today we mark this period of time by counting the omer from the second night of Pesach until Shavuot. For some this counting leads the Jewish people one step closer to receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. For others the counting of the omer may lead to confirmation and still for others it may have little meaning.
I am convinced Judaism is all about counting. We count the days of creation. We count the days until a baby boys bris. We mark time when someone dies - shiva, sheloshim and the first year. As students at HUC we live and breathe the Jewish calendar and as such we mark time as only a Jew knows how.
In the beginning of the school year we are all excited about the classes that we are about to start, nervous about the amount of work we will ultimately have to complete, and finally counting down the days until we can just relax. This school year was no different. I began the school year not knowing what to expect and hoping that everything would turn out well. Here I am, nine months later, patting myself on the back for a job well done.
I am done for this year; I have journeyed in the desert and am waiting to receive Torah yet again. Each year around this time I think about the song that I sang at my Hebrew High School graduation, The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell. Okay the song is a bit cliché but the message is timeless: "And the seasons they go round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down. We're captive on the carousel of time. We can't return we can only look behind from where we came. And go round and round and round
in the circle game." We go throughout life and confront its ups and downs, joys and tragedies, its better moments and worse moments. But as Jews we are reminded, if only once a year, what our purpose is. We are grounded in creation and the ability to start again fresh.
As I move from this school year to the summer and then back to school again I am confident that we as Jews need Shavuot in order to receive the Torah again. We all need to journey in order to find our strength to ultimately complete the process again the following year. I continually find my strength in learning and I do my best learning within the walls at HUC.
I hope that you have found my blog entries to be meaningful, insightful, thought provoking and at times funny. I have enjoyed writing them and I hope you have enjoyed reading them.
Chag Sameach,
Lyle
Posted by Lyle at 1:56 PM
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April's Blog
Sunday, April 15, 2007
"Find yourself a teacher - acquire for yourself a friend" (Pirkei Avot)
Each student in the NYSOE's MARE program is given a mentor. The goal of this mentor program is for the mentor to help the student grow and learn as a Jewish educator. My mentor, Wendy Grinberg, is the Assistant Director of Lifelong Jewish Learning at the Union for Reform Judaism. Part of this mentor relationship has involved Wendy observing me teaching in my classroom and then discussing ways to improve.
Wendy came to observe me teach my Hebrew High School class at Temple Avodah of Oceanside Long Island. While I wasn't nervous I was quite anxious because this was the first time that I was actually being observed. I not only had to prepare my lesson but also tried to anticipate what constructive criticism that I may receive.
Teaching is something I love doing, but writing lesson plans, especially while focusing on the backwards design model is definitely not my favorite academic exercise. It is for that reason that writing my lesson plans becomes such a challenge for me. Because I am teaching a class in coexistence I felt it was really important to have clear goals in mind.
After teaching my first class I found that this course description, while generally good, was not extremely helpful in helping me formulate my individual lessons that will eventually create my curricular unit. In the first lesson I focused on the concept of dialogue and how healthy dialogue is the cornerstone to coexistence. I framed my lesson around Jan Svankmajer's Dimension of Dialogue film and used "The Little Prince" as a case study for dialogue.
I found that using Jan Svankmajer's Dimensions of Dialogue film was great. It shows a lump of matter that emerges from a table drawer and forms itself into two heads. From the mouth of one there emerges a toothbrush, from the other a tube of toothpaste, and so on through bread/butter and knife, shoe/laces, pencil/sharpener. Then the combinations start to become mismatched, and as the clashing of items becomes ever more grotesque and frenzied, the two heads crack and dissolve in exhaustion. The students really related to this because even though there was no talking, the music and the non-verbal dialogue was easy to understand.
The next part of my lesson was designed to use the dialogue between the Little Prince and the Fox as a case study for dialogue. I found that after running through it with the class they just did not relate to it like I thought they would have. Since I teach this same class at a different synagogue I decided to change that part of the lesson. Instead of using the Little Prince I decided to use the story of Cain and Abel as the framing text.
I introduced the story of Cain and Abel and explained why I thought that the story is a great example of a lack of dialogue. The students read the story from Genesis and then we focused on the dilemma: What did Cain say to his brother Abel when they were in the field? Why did Cain Kill Abel? We spent some time looking at the three dots in the JPS translation and why they were there. Our conversation then turned to midrash as a response to this uncertainty in the text. Finally the student's created their own midrash as a way to create a dialogue between Cain and Abel.
In retrospect I wish I would have done this the first time I taught my dialogue lesson. The class really responded well and asked some engaging questions. Having Wendy observe me and critique my lesson plan and my curricular unit was one of the most helpful academic exercises. It seems that the more I teach the same lesson, the more I feel I will learn about my teaching style and my technique. I feel that a student-mentor relationship is an integral part of my growth as Jewish Educator.
- Lyle
Posted by Lyle at 4:49 PM
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How to teach about Israel?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Purim Fun with my Chevruta Partners: Lyle, Claire and Neil
Learning how to be a Jewish educator can be rewarding, inspiring and fun. We take many different classes and while many are required, some are elective classes. One of my electives this semester is a class called "Why Israel Matters: Exploring the Place of Israel in American Jewish Life." Taught by Dr. Lisa Grant, the class is divided into four overlapping spheres of how we can begin to understand and relate to Israel. The four spheres are Am Yisrael, Torat Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael.
The class is being taught from the point of view that Israel is integral to Judaism and the collective Jewish experience wherever it is lived. As a Jewish educator it is now my job to transmit why Israel matters to the students that I teach. In order to do that, we must remember our past and look toward our future.
When God promised to make Abraham a great nation, I sometimes wonder if God knew exactly what He was getting His people into. From bondage in Egypt to the gas chambers in Nazi Europe, Am Yisrael yearned to be a free people in their own land. Finally after 2000 years in galut we were gathered from the four corners of the earth and led upright to our land.
Since the creation of Medinat Yisrael in 1948, American Jews are still struggling with how to create and sustain a lasting relationship with Israel. How can we begin teach about a place when, according to the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey, only 21% our students ages 6-17 have been there? Is it possible to learn about something you have never experienced? The political climate of the 1960's and 1970's brought about much support for Israel. But in the past twenty or thirty years, there has been a dramatic change. Some people no longer feel the need for Israel; in fact, some feel that they are no longer living in exile.
American Reform Jews have had an ambivalent relationship with Israel. We are not sure how to teach about it in our religious schools, and we are certainly unsure how to make our students feel it in their hearts. Our movement's conundrum began in 1885 with the Pittsburgh Platform and continues until this day. This tumultuous relationship between our guiding principles, Zionism, the Jewish People, and Medinat Yisrael has gone through enormous changes. These changes are not just reflected in our platforms, but they can also been seen in the textbooks our movement produces and that our schools use.
The first time we are introduced to the word Israel, Ya'akov Avinu is wrestling with an unnamed character. Some say it was a man because the Torah uses the word ish, meaning man, and others say it was God. But according to the Midrash, he wrestles with an angel. The angel is said to be Esau's angel, or Jacob's own angel. To assume it was Jacob's own angel is to assume an inner struggle, which is the most human concept. We learn from this "[...] that man's true victory is the one he achieves over himself."1 Whoever he wrestled with changed his name from Ya'akov to Yisrael because he struggled with "beings divine and human, and...prevailed" (Gen 32:29). After Jacob wrestles with the angel he walks away with a limp. Just like Jacob, we all have a limp that accompanies us through life. Unfortunately our limp as Reform Jews is the inadequate way we teach the importance of Israel.
We can no longer teach children about Israel as just fun and games. Some Israeli food, Israeli dancing, a little history and geography will no longer suffice. The world in which we live now demands that we teach our students what is happening in the news when it happens. Just as Jacob struggled when his name was changed, so too rabbis and Jewish educators must struggle with teaching Israel. It is our responsibility and our duty to be well informed about Israel so that we can transmit that love to our students.
Speaking at the inaugural event for Carmel: A Progressive Beit Midrash and Israel Study Program, Rabbi Stanley Davids, the current President of ARZA said, "I am not so interested right now in how you can transform Israel. I am daring you to allow yourselves to be transformed by Israel." It is with that message that we look at Israel and Israel education. We must allow Israel to transform our students because it is our responsibility and our covenant. We must create new and inspiring curricula that will enable us to do just that, because as Theodore Herzl said, "If you will it, it is no dream."
Chag Kasher v'samayach - May you have a Kosher and happy Pesach.
Lyle
1 Elie Wiesel, Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits and Legends (trans. Marion Wiesel; New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994), 125.
Posted by Lyle at 11:26 AM
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Just say NO...to Programs!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
As a second year education student at HUC, I am taking a class called The Dynamics of Organizational Change. Cyd Weissman is our teacher and also the director of the New York RE-IMAGINE Project, a program of The Experiment In Congregational Education or ECE. Our two main texts are Becoming a Congregation of Learners by Isa Aron and The Spiritual Possibilities of the American Synagogue by Rabbi Sid Schwarz. Each book introduces the reader not just to different theories, but it also lets us read the "success stories." The focus of Aron's book is learning how to create a congregation of learners, while Schwarz's book is about different ways to transform the American synagogue.
Reading Schwartz's book I was particularly struck by the difference between the synagogue-community vs. the synagogue-center. The synagogue-center developed during the post WW II era and still exists today. For the most part the synagogue-center follows a hierarchical model of clergy leadership, where "no one knows your name," and there is a "country club" feel. The synagogue community model is more informal and "...is about providing people with a sense of acceptance, love, warmth and belonging" (238).
Without a doubt I am the product of the synagogue-center. While my home synagogue was not "high church," it was by no means "low church." Still this model has shaped me and in many ways has made me who I am today. Only a few pages into my reading I found a paragraph that I just could not get out of my head. "Not all of the Jews raised in the synagogue-centers of the 1950's, '60's, and '70's were looking for God. But those who were would have to go elsewhere" (229). A few questions came to mind: Where would they go? What is wrong with the synagogue-centers? And are there people that found "spirituality" there?
In the first few weeks of class, we have already learned a lot, but the main message so far is that creating programs at a synagogue is not the answer. So what is the answer? Every synagogue has programs...right?
In Aron's book she sets up a foundation to make a change. The first important step is to realize that change is not dependent on a good program. When I was in college I served as a youth group advisor at two local Long Island synagogues. I always felt that the programs I came up with were good, informative and fun. In the end I was discouraged when only a few people would show up. I began to realize that perhaps the problems were not in the program but that the program, the venue; the times did not meet the needs of the participants. I began to question how I could reach a diverse group of kids with differentiated learning styles.
Unfortunately change did not happen as I would have liked because, as Aron notes, the people, both parents and kids, need to want change in order for change to happen. Members need to be active participants in the planning and implementation of any change. Aron's third step is that participants in the process should experience a taste of the final product.
This type of planning can only happen in a true synagogue-community. I feel that many synagogue-centers have aspects of a synagogue-community but need some help in recognizing those characteristics. People stop creating one shot programs where they start working together and looking at the needs of the community. This is easier said than done.
As a Jewish educator it is my hope to infuse all I meet with a love and appreciation for the history, values, customs and beliefs of our heritage. I understand that this cannot be done alone and I also realize that I will have to take some risks along the way. In the end I realize that change takes a long time. I also know that change does not always mean something was bad, it just means it can always be better. Change starts by taking a risk, trusting your instinct and jumping into the sea as Nachshon did.
- Lyle
Posted by Lyle at 2:17 PM
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Israel: Our Birthright
Monday, January 15, 2007
The Sunrise over Masada
11 days, 23 participants, 8 IDF Soldiers, 4 staff members, 1 bus driver = Birthright Israel. On January 3, 23 Jews began a journey into their collective Jewish past, present and future. Each of the participants came to Israel for a variety of reasons, but in the end they all left more connected to their Jewish identity.
After a 9 hour flight to Ben Gurion International Airport, we made our ascent to Jerusalem. Tired and excited, our birthright journey began where, according to tradition, the world began. Overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem I asked the participants to think about their story. Oliver Sacks in The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat says, "...If we wish to know about a man, we ask: 'what is his story — his real, inmost story?' — for each of us is a biography, a story." For the first time their personal narrative and the narrative of Israel was beginning to come together. Over the next 11 days these participants would begin a dialogue with Israel in the hope of finding out her story.
"The Lord said to Avram, 'Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.'" The land God showed Abraham is the same land that has been central to the Jewish people for nearly 6000 years. Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel has a power unlike any other place on earth. I have traveled to Israel numerous times and each time I felt as if I was walking in the path of Torah. Birthright Israel has helped many build a personal connection to Israel's people, places, culture and history.
KESHER Israel Connection birthright group at Har Hertzl
You know you are part of something special the moment the El Al plane lands in Israel and a round of applause sweeps over the plane. We traveled to the Dead Sea, Massada, the Kineret, the Golan Heights Eilat, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and so many other places. Each place has its own story and each place has a special memory. This jam-packed trip consisted of so much, it is simply impossible to decide which single instant made it so meaningful.
For 11 days we lived in the Land steeped in the Jewish past and met people that will help shape our Jewish future. As Jews we are on a never-ending journey, one that will hopefully lead us back to Israel. When Abraham left the Ur of Chaldeans he never questioned God. It was his birthright and because of his birthright he did what he had to do. So it is today, with the thousands of people who have already received their birthright.
Each time I am in Israel I am reminded of the last lines of Ahavah Rabah. "V'havienu l'shalom me'arbah kanfot ha'aretz - May you bring us, in peace, from all the corners of the earth Leading us proudly, Independent to our land." When we landed at JFK airport on January 15, Israel was no longer a dream for the 23 birthright participants. Thanks to the Reform Movement's KESHER Israel Connection — Birthright program another 23 people were brought from the four corners of the United States to Israel. In the beginning of our journey I asked 23 people to think about their story. Now, thanks to birthright Israel, friends have been made, connections have been established and new narratives have been born.
- Lyle
Posted by Lyle at 2:32 PM
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God is NOT a Four Letter Word
Friday, December 15, 2006
When HUC classes began in late August I was ready to go back to school. I said goodbye to the lazy days of summer and said hello to books, assignments and a demanding schedule. I was also ready to once again engage in conversations about God. Perhaps it is because I spent four years at Hofstra University talking about God as a philosophy minor or because I feel a deep connection to God as Jew. Either way, in my opinion, God is part of the package when you sign up to be a rabbi, cantor or educator.
Each time I entered the synagogue of my childhood, the words "Da lifnei mi atah omed" shined down upon me from above the Aron Kodesh. Although they are inscribed on countless sanctuaries, can we ever understand what these words express? Can we ever truly know in front of whom we stand? One of the most compelling and challenging aspects of Judaism is the ability to foster an understanding of and a belief in God. Because God plays a central role in Judaism, teaching about Him is clearly compelling. Yet because the concept of God is complex, educating others about Him is also quite challenging.
Proving that God exists is certainly not a simple task, yet a Jewish educator must encourage students to believe in the existence of God. Although this idea may seem quite obvious, it is a crucial first step in gaining an understanding of Him. It is for that reason that Moses Maimonides in his Sefer HaMitzvot said, "The first of the [Torah's] commandments is to know that there is a God." Once one knows that God exists, the dialogue with God can commence.
The concept of God is abstract; thus it is difficult to comprehend and is often inadequately taught. However, we can begin to know and approach God through our own life experiences. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, a great Chassidic teacher, once asked his students, "Where does God dwell?" The students answered that "God lives everywhere." Reb Mendel was not satisfied with their answer. While it may be true that God lives everywhere, he taught, "God dwells wherever people let Him in." Jewish educators have the enormous responsibility of teaching others about belief in God and the ramifications of that belief in their lives.
Prayer is about our search for God, and through that search we struggle to understand Him. It is that struggle that makes us Yisrael, a people struggling with God. We must all keep in mind that God is not a four letter word. A Jewish educator without God is like a fish without water. The Talmud says, "Know before whom you stand," and it is the job of Jewish educators to teach that it is God before whom we are standing.
Davar Acher (Another Subject)
I will be leaving for Israel on January 3rd to staff a birthright trip with the KESHER College Department of the Reform Movement. Please check out my January blog entry to read a reflection of my experiences in Israel.
Quote of the month
"You don't really make that much money - I mean your salary can't be that high"
- Elizabeth, a 7th grade student that I teach.
May you all have a joyous Chanukah and a Happy (secular) New Year.
Chag Chanukah Sameach,
Lyle
Posted by Lyle at 2:39 PM
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The Rambling of a Jewish Educator
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Each year at the end of the summer while on vacation, I have the opportunity to speak with Rabbi Gerald Meister, an Orthodox Rabbi, who works for the Israeli Consulate in NYC. Gerry and I walk along the beach and we speak about Judaism, Israel, and our beliefs. During one of our conversations he said to me that the job of a rabbi or Jewish educator is to take care of Jewish souls. He said that if I don't place God first and do everything in my life as if God is the guiding force then it would be better for me to be a social worker. While at times he can be quite blunt, I believe his words to be true.
I have been working in the world of Jewish education for almost six years. In that time I have held positions at numerous synagogues as a religious school teacher and informal Jewish educator, worked at the Union for Reform Judaism, and had two internships where I gained a tremendous amount of leadership experience. In this short time I can say, without hesitation, that there is nothing more rewarding and challenging than teaching in a religious school. In general students don't hold their feelings back and many times they leave the classroom knowing more then when the first walked in.
This year I am a teacher in the Merrick Community Hebrew High School (MCHHS) on Long Island. Now in its 18th year, this joint venture between the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform religious schools, have seen much success. The students are exposed to diverse beliefs and practices not just from their teachers but also from their peers. It is an environment like this that truly embodies Klal Yisrael.
R. Nachman ben Yitzchak said: Why are the words of the Torah compared to a tree, as it says (Proverbs 3:18) "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her?" This is to teach you that just as a small piece of wood kindles a larger one, so a lesser scholar (student) brightens the wits of a greater one through his questions. This is what was meant by R. Chanina when he said: "I have learned much from my teachers, and even more from my peers, and most from my disciples." (Ta'anit 7a). I know that my task in life is to know before whom I stand. It is because of God that I have an obligation to teach my students and children so that they can teach their students and children.
We read in Exodus 25:8, "And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." Judaism has long recognized the importance of creating a sacred space. We must build a sacred space worthy enough for the Divine Presence to dwell. Today we continue to build those sacred spaces in the form of synagogues and classrooms. Our classrooms are the magical places where we cultivate Jewish souls to lead holy Jewish lives. By taking the time to develop creative, engaging, and informative lessons, I know that my students will not only learn with enthusiasm, but will also enjoy their Jewish education.
"Each person has a Torah, unique to that person, his or her innermost teaching. Some seem to know their Torahs very early in life...Others spend their whole lives stammering, shaping and rehearsing them...For each soul, by the time of his final hour, the Torah is complete, the teaching is done." This quote from Rabbi Lawrence Kushner helped me to recognize my unique Torah. What is yours?
Posted by Lyle at 1:30 PM
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Tekiah G'dolah
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Family Vacation at the Good Harbor Beach Inn:
Lyle, Varda (Mom), Deena (Sister), Steven (Dad)
For many Jews the High Holy Day Season represents their one and only opportunity to engage in and be part of deep, personal reflection. For Jews that spend this time in shul they are confronted with words such as Avinu Malkeinu, Al Chet Shechatanu l'fanecha, ashamnu, and Unetaneh tokef. Combine this with an altered liturgy and special melodies, the Yamim Nora'im can be both very meaningful and at the same time quite scary.
I have been going to Temple Emanu-El of East Meadow with my family on the High Holy Days for many years. I have participated in the ritual of hanging outside shul with my friends, moving on to the family service, which is kid friendly, and finally graduating to the main service. This year, for the first time, I think everything made sense. I used the prescribed liturgy and the special melodies to help guide me through High Holy Day services. I think I succeeded!
At the NYSOE we engage in a lot of reflection; both personal and professional. In fact in MARE (Masters in Religious Education) Seminar we are asked to reflect in the form of a bi-weekly journal. Yet reflection without change is ultimately meaningless. Instead we must force ourselves to grow from our reflections.
In our Educational Leadership and Administration class we were introduced to what is known as the SWOT Analysis. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT Analysis, mainly used in the world of business, can also be a very powerful Jewish tool.
We read in the Unetaneh tokef, "On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed." Perhaps the book that we want to get sealed in is really just one big SWOT Analysis. I can see it now, as we stand in shul beating our chest at the recitation of the ashamnu and the Al Chet confession, God has His notebook on the table and is filling out our very own personal SWOT Analysis. As we ask God to write us in the Book of Life, God asks us what our strengths and weaknesses are. He begs of us to be open to all of the opportunities this New Year presents and to be wary of all the threats that may come our way.
For many of you reading this blog, the New Year presents much excitement and many challenges. Who shall be accepted into HUC and who shall not; who shall decide that HUC is not the right choice, and who shall not? For those of you out there considering HUC, I would like to suggest filling out two SWOT Analyses. The first analysis should be of a personal nature. Look long and hard at yourself and write down all of your strengths and weaknesses. What do you do better than anyone else, and what can you improve? Next, see all the good opportunities facing you and the obstacles you face in achieving your goals. The second analysis should be about HUC. After completing both analyses you should make the decision to apply, to wait, or to consider your other options.
As in the business world, the SWOT Analysis is not a science and there are no guarantees. Just as God writes and seals, records and recounts, we too must do the same. We should use the High Holy Day season to write our own book. It is our time to look at our own life and decide what we want to do in the year to come. We must be our own judge and arbiter, counsel and witness. If we do all of these things, we will undoubtedly hear the sound of the great Shofar. Tekiah G'dolah!
Posted by Lyle at 11:38 AM
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First Blog
Friday, September 15, 2006
What does it mean to be a Jewish educator? After a year of classes I am still trying to figure that out. My name is Lyle and I am beginning my second year at the New York School of Education (NYSOE). My journey to HUC and the NYSOE was far from traditional. After years of contemplation and soul-searching, I decided to apply to the rabbinical program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. My need and desire to be a Reform rabbi were then compiled into a five page - four essay application. After a relatively smooth interview, I waited for a few weeks to receive an answer, and then it came – Lech Lecha! I was told to "Go to myself," to find out who I am, to learn and to study. Even though I was upset at the time I soon began to realize just how important this Lech Lecha moment was for me.
I have been working in the world of Jewish education for almost six years. In that time I have held positions at numerous synagogues as a religious school teacher and informal Jewish educator, worked at the Union for Reform Judaism, and had two internships where I gained a tremendous amount of leadership experience. Yet, there was still something missing. I needed a forum where I could unpack my experiences and a chance to learn about different theories and philosophies surrounding Jewish Education. The NYSOE has given me that opportunity.
The Talmud states, "Harbei lamaditi mirabotai, voyoter michaverai, u'mitalmidai yoter mikulam – I have learned much from my teachers, even more so from my colleagues, but I have learned the most from my students." It is those words from Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi that guide my life. As a Jewish educator it is my hope and dream to influence and shape the lives of my students. Students can challenge and question their teachers and in doing so both the student and teacher learn and discover. Teaching is a partnership, one where the teacher gains the trust of the student and where the student trusts the teacher.
This summer I decided to take a short vacation from Jewish education and work at Robin Hood Country Day School (www.robinhoodcountryday.com), a secular day camp that I attended and worked at for many years. I was a group leader for 26 excited second graders. Of the 26 children in my group, about 75% were Jewish. From the moment I walked into camp I realized that there was no such thing as a vacation from Jewish education. One staff member made me a kippah with the camp logo on it and my campers and fellow staff members were constantly asking me questions about Judaism. Whether I liked it or not I became the Jewish educator of this secular camp. The camp's educational philosophy states that "Robin Hood is a world for children to explore, to enjoy, to learn new skills and to make new and lasting friendships." It was not until camp was over that I realized just how Jewish their philosophy is and how transformative my summer camp experience was. Jewish education takes place at all times and in various different ways. Sometimes all it takes is for us to open our eyes.
We learn from the Ohr Gedalyahu, Rav Gedalia Schorr, that each person is born with a certain amount of potential. God knows what that potential is; however, it is our job to reach for that potential. Although God knows exactly what people are capable of doing, as well as what they should do, unless people act on that potential, they will remain the same. So it is with Judaism and Jewish education. As Jewish educators we have a sense of the potential of our students; however, unless our students integrate what they learn into their lives, they will remain the unchanged. Unless we have dedicated, educated teachers, our students and Am Yisrael will never reach their true potential. For me, the decision to become a Jewish educator was natural. It is my hope that this monthly blog will answer your questions in order to help you make that same decision.
Posted by Lyle at 3:18 PM
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